Jupiter

The Biggest Planet in our Solar System

Jupiter

The Biggest Planet in our Solar System

Jupiter is known as the biggest planet in our solar system

Jupiter is 318 times bigger than planet Earth. In fact, Jupiter is 2.5 times more massive than all of the other planets in the Solar System combined.

Jupiter Is The Fastest Spinning Planet In The Solar System

For all its size and mass, Jupiter sure moves quickly. In fact, with an rotational velocity of 28,148 mph, the planet only takes about 10 hours to complete a full rotation on its axis. And because it’s spinning so rapidly, the planet has flattened out at the poles a little and is bulging at its equator.

Jupiter can be seen in the night sky

Chances are, if you see a really bright star high in the sky, then you’re looking at Jupiter. Get your hands on a pair of binoculars, and if you know someone with a telescope, that’s even better. Using even modest magnification, you might even spot small specks of light orbiting it, which are its Galilean Moons. Just think, you’ll be seeing precisely what Galileo did when he gazed at the planet in 1610.

The Clouds On Jupiter Are Only 50 km Thick

That’s right, all those beautiful whirling clouds and storms you see on Jupiter are only about 50 km thick. They’re made of ammonia crystals broken up into two different cloud decks. The darker material is thought to be compounds brought up from deeper inside Jupiter, and then change color when they reacted with sunlight. But below those clouds, it’s just hydrogen and helium, all the way down.